


Oy With The Dyads Already!

by DottieSnark



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - 2000s, Alternate Universe - Gilmore Girls Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Ben Solo Has Siblings, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Dramedy, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Kidfic, Mental Health Issues, Minor Amilyn Holdo/Harp Aller, Minor Finn/Rose Tico, Minor Jaina Solo/Poe Damerom, Past Child Neglect, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Warnings May Change, meet ugly, quirky small town, referenced canon character death, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24161086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DottieSnark/pseuds/DottieSnark
Summary: “Did you come here just to yell at me?” Ben asked“Yes!” Rey yelled.Ben leaned back against the back counter, a smirk growing on his lips.“Do you think this is funny?”“Honestly?”----When Rey and her daughter left London all Rey wanted was a new start. And the quirky town of Chandrila, Connecticut quickly became the perfect new home. The only problem was that aloof diner owner, Ben Solo. That man certainly had some nerve with the way he treated everyone. So why couldn't Rey stop thinking about him? A Gilmore Girls inspired modern AU.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 35
Kudos: 38
Collections: Discord Community Archive





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was innocently working away on my Gilmore Girls WIP when my friend, [DarkMage13,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMage13/pseuds/DarkMage13) sends me [this prompt of twitter:](https://twitter.com/marajaderen1/status/1252826957542088706)
> 
> "A small town is flipped on its head when spirited Rey Johnson and her daughter, Kira, move to town. She takes over the towns picturesque inn, and catches the eye of seemingly aloof diner owner, Ben Solo.
> 
> OR The Gilmore Girls AU no one asked for."
> 
> After that, there was no choice. My destiny was written. I had to write the fic.
> 
> So thank you to [marajaderen1](https://twitter.com/marajaderen1) for coming up with this silly prompt and thank you DarkMage13, for not only sending the prompt to me, but encouraging me to write it, letting me bounce ideas off of your and betaing. You're the best!

The inn was a long shot. Rey had been to countless stores and businesses over the past couple of weeks. Each had a help wanted sign in their window, but none were desperate enough for the likes of her. She didn't know how many more nights her money would last. After it ran out how would she get food? Would she have to turn to scavenging out of trash bins? Well, it wasn't like she hadn't done that before.

Rey looked down at the toddler holding her hand, Kira, her three-year-old daughter. She might be able to live like that, but Kira couldn't. Rey would find a way. She had to.

The inn was picturesque. Its lobby even came complete with a fireplace and harpist. Patrons, mostly older folks, milled around, talking among themselves or with the employees. The only thing out of place was the purple-haired woman behind the reception desk.

Rey marched right up to the desk, Kira barely keeping up with her. "Who does the hiring here?" Rey asked.

The purple-haired woman looked up from a piece of mail and blinked. Her name tag read Amilyn. Amilyn cocked her head to the side as she looked Rey up and down. "I'm sorry? Is there something wrong?"

Rey shook her head. "I want a job."

Amilyn blinked some more then leaned over the desk and looked down at Kira. "And who's this?"

"Kira," Rey said. "She's my daughter. But she won't be a problem. She's very well behaved."

"Do you have a babysitter?"

Rey shook her head.

"Okay. Can I see your resume?"

"I…I don't have one," Rey admitted. She printed out a nice stack when she started this job search but stupidly wasted them all on companies that never called her back.

"References?"

Rey shook her head again.

"Special skills?"

"Um…I've really mastered that selfie angle?"

Amilyn smiled. "An important skill, but I'm not sure how it relates to hospitality. Look, I'm sorry. I'm the owner and I wish I could give you a job, I really do, but I just don't have the budget for an entry-level position right now. Maybe check back after the summer when the college kids go back to school."

That was it. It was all over and she failed. Somehow she had built this place up into being her last hope. She had already faced so much rejection in this job search. She had already failed Kira so much. There were no other options.

No. She couldn't just give up. This was the one. This was the job that was going to turn everything around. She was sure of it. She just needed to convince Amilyn. She scanned the room, looking for a way to show her worth.

The lamp by the harpist flickered. Could be that the light bulb wasn't screwed in tight enough or it could be a short. Without another word, Rey crossed the lobby, with Kira at her heels. Kira always followed her mother as Rey worked on a project, watching quietly and absorbing every step Rey took. She turned the dial on the side of the lamp until it turned off, then reached above and tried to screw in the light bulb. It was already turned as tight as it could get. She unscrewed the bulb and discovered her theory was correct.

By this time Amilyn joined her at the lamp. "What are you doing?"

"It's got a short," Rey said. She tipped the lamp over and showed Amilyn the inside wires. One was melted.

"You can fix that?"

"I just need to splice a new one in. Got a toolbox?"

Amilyn pointed at the reception desk and Rey returned to it, Kira still at her heels. She had a bit of a wobble when her mother walked this quickly, but she kept up nonetheless. Rey opened the toolbox, taking out pliers and some new wiring. Then she returned to the lamp and unplugged it before starting her work. She cut off the melted part of the wire and spliced in the new one, replaced the bulb, and plugged the lamp back in. No more flickering.

"Well," Amilyn said, "I think that's a little more impressive than a selfie angle. Let's see if we can't squeeze a little more out of the budget."

* * *

She had a job. A real job. A real adult job that was above minimum wage, though barely. She and Kira wouldn't go starving.

Amilyn made it easy for her and Kira those first couple weeks. She must've known Rey had nothing else to live on because after each meal that the inn's restaurant served, there were always "leftovers that would be thrown out unless someone ate them first." Those leftovers were the only reason Rey's remaining money was able to last as long as it did.

When that first paycheck arrived there was no better feeling in the world. It wasn't much, only a few hundred dollars, but that was more than she ever imagined seeing again. Her and Kira's expenses were pretty low, so she could stretch this paycheck, and the one after it, and all the ones after that, for a pretty long time. She could build up a nice nest egg and maybe by the time winter came she would be able to afford to shelter in a place other than her junk car. Living in her car was fine during the summer, but she would need a warmer place once the temperature dropped.

Still, she could afford to splurge a little now. What's the point of living when you can't live it up?

"Where's the best cup of coffee in town?" Rey asked her coworker Finn one day with absolutely no segue.

"What?" Finn asked. Rey had appeared out of nowhere as he exited a room with his cleaning cart.

"Where's the best cup of coffee in town?" she repeated. She pulled her pay stub out of her pocket and showed it to Finn. "I think Kira and I deserve a little treat."

Finn grinned. He and Rey had taken a shine to each other over the past couple weeks. They joked and teased each other, and helped each other whenever they could. "I'd say Ben's. But save your money. I'm pretty sure it's the senior staff member's duty to take the new employee out at the end of the first pay period. Meet you out front in a half-hour?"

Rey shook her head. This was something she had to do alone. It might be small, but buying a meal for herself and Kira was the biggest accomplishment she had done in a long time. "Next time," Rey promised, "but today it's just Mommy and Kira."

Finn understood and gave her the locations of a diner, Ben's. She had overheard guests and other employees discuss various restaurants in town. Ben's Diner was a popular choice. Everyone said the owner was a huge jerk, but the fries were to die for.

Rey collected Kira from Amilyn's office before going into town. Kira was often allowed to follow Rey around while she worked, but Amilyn enjoyed watching the toddler too. She said it was because she missed the days when her Godchildren were that little. Rey was just thankful to have free babysitting.

They had been in Chandrila for over two weeks now, but had barely ventured outside the inn. With no money and few friends, they had little reason to explore before. It was about time they got to know the town.

Today, Kira was full of energy. She wanted to walk, not to be carried, and even though it slowed Rey down, the three-year-old kept a good pace.

"Where we going?" Kira asked.

"It's a new place," Rey said. "A diner with all sorts of food. Are you hungry?"

Kira nodded her head vigorously.

"Why aren't we eating at the out?" Kira asked.

"Inn," Rey corrected. "And I just wanted to do something special today. Don't you like trying new things?"

Kira shook her head. You'd think after all the instability Rey's life had caused Kira in her three short years of life she'd be used to new things, but apparently not. Children needed structure and stability. There had been enough surprise and chaos in both their lives to last a lifetime.

"Well, we'll eat at the inn again tomorrow, but let's try this diner today. I'll let you order whatever you want."

"Okay!" Kira said with good cheer. At least she was easily convinced.

They crossed the town square like Finn instructed and looked at the corner building that was to the right of the high school, but its sign read Han's Hardware. That couldn't be correct. Maybe she got his instructions backward. She checked out the left of the high school, but that wasn't a diner either.

"Are you lost?" Kira asked as they walked around the square.

"No," Rey said, as she continued to walk in circles. She passed many more buildings: Wedge's Bakery, Maz's Pancake World, Dameron Garage. After a couple minutes, she was right back where she started, standing in front of Han's Hardware. Except this time she looked inside.

The interior was filled not with home improvement supplies, but with tables and chairs, most which seated a patron or two eating a meal. It was clearly a diner. But then why did the sign outside say it was a hardware store? Was this some quirky, irony thing?

She looked around and found a second sign, this one hanging above the sidewalk. It was in the shape of a coffee cup with the name Ben's on it.

Well, this was just the most confusing shop ever. Rey and Kira entered and a little bell above the door rang out. As soon as they walked through the threshold a plate came flying across the room and shattered against the glass, missing Rey's head by mere centimeters. Rey ducked into a crouch and used as much of her body as she could to cover her daughter. Kira squirmed in her arms and let out a little whine. Slowly, Rey lifted her head to assess the danger.

By the window where the plate had smashed a syrup-covered pancake was stuck to the glass and was now slowly sliding down the panel. A few customers had ducked too, but they were already back to eating as if nothing happened.

Behind the counter stood a very tall, very muscular man with dark, wavy hair. His face was a seething red, complete with glaring eyes, flared nostrils, and a popped neck vein.

"You're a maniac, Ben" another man said, this one seated at the counter. He got up and rushed to the exit, brushing past Rey and Kira by the door, muttering, "Run while you still can," to them as he passed.

"Go to Hell, Poe," the angry man, Ben, shouted after him. So this was the owner Rey had heard all those stories about.

Kira struggled to escape Rey's arms. Rey tried to hold on harder but the toddler slipped her grasp. Rey was able to grab a hold of Kira's tiny hand before she got too far away. "Shh. It's okay. Don't be scared. It's over now."

But Kira wasn't scared. While trying to pry herself out of her mother's grasp she reached for window. "Pancakes!" Kira shouted. "Want."

Rey slipped out of her crouch, falling onto the floor, laughing in relief. Kira wasn't traumatized. She just wanted pancakes.

Ben walked over to them. His expression had softened and the redness on his face was gone. He bent down with hunch shoulders and glanced at Rey for a moment, locking eyes, before taking a deep breath and fixing his posture. "Sit wherever you want," he said. He used a rag to pick up the broken shards of plates.

That was it? No apology. No asking if they were okay? This crazed man just threw a plate at Rey's head and he barely acknowledged her. Goddamn, if Kira wasn't here she would have smacked him. Who acts like that?

Rey scooped Kira back into her arms and left. No fries were worth this.

* * *

How many customers had Ben scared away this month? A dozen? More? His outbursts of anger were getting out of control and he knew it. The worst was when he lost it in front of that little girl and her caretaker, though. The timing of that whole incident was so perfectly terrible it had to be a cosmic joke. Ben always had the worst luck. Sometimes he suspected that the forces of the universe were working against him.

It was Poe's fault, really. He knew better than to come into the diner. He knew he was banned, along with everyone else who had ever pissed Ben off, which was a pretty long list and another reason Ben was struggling to keep his business afloat. With the way he was hemorrhaging customers how much longer would he be able to keep the diner running?

Even the dinner rush only filled half the diner.

The bell above the front entrance rang. Ben's head snapped up. Each customer was one more chance to get closer out of the red.

Standing in the doorway was the woman from lunch who he nearly hit with a flying plate. There was a scowl on her face and her hands had formed into fists. "How dare you!" she said, storming across the room, pointing a finger at him. She was tall but had nothing on Ben's six-foot-three stature, and her frame, while still athletic, was more slender than muscular, so the fact that she dared to stand up to him at all was impressive in of itself.

"I take it you didn't want pancakes to go," Ben said. He always had a hard time keeping his mouth shut, even when he knew he was in the wrong.

She opened her mouth but then closed it without another word. She blinked a couple times before continuing. "You almost hit me."

Ben hadn't noticed her accent at first but the second time she spoke it was clearly British. She must be a tourist in town for a festival, then. No need to worry about soothing things over or attempt to bite his tongue. She'd be out of town soon enough.

"If it's any consolation I wasn't aiming for you," Ben said.

"You weren't aiming at me?" she repeated. "You weren't aiming specifically at me, therefore your wanton disregard for public safety is unimportant? You almost traumatized my daughter."

"You mean the little girl who tried to eat the pancakes right off my windowsill? Yeah, she looked real upset."

"Forget about the pancakes."

"Did you come here just to yell at me?"

"Yes!"

Ben leaned back against the back counter, a smirk growing on his lips.

"Do you think this is funny?"

"Honestly?"

"Oh, sod off!" She gave him the peace-sign and stormed off—except Ben had enough experience with his employee Hux, also British, to know she wasn't wishing him peace and love.

"Have a nice day!" Ben dryly called after her and rolled his eyes. The handful of patrons in his restaurant were all now looking at him. He glared at them until they turned away and returned to their meals. Okay, so maybe Ben could be partially blamed for the lack of clientele. At least he would never have to deal with that particular customer again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n: Thank you so much for reading! For such a silly premise I really went all out on this fic. I already have 25k (unedited) written. I expect it to be a little longer and I have it plotted out all the way to the ending, so I should be on track to update frequently (knock on wood). I've been working on this fic for the last three weeks, and this is the fastest I've ever gone from drafting to publishing. I just really wanted to get the draft out while it was still recent.
> 
> Also, this is my first Reylo outside of some drabbles. Yay!
> 
> And lastly, I do want to say something about the tone of this fic. While this fic is mostly light-hearted and humorous like Gilmore Girls (and this chapter), later parts of it do get pretty angsty. Ben's backstory will reach canon Kylo Ren level of angst. But most of it is light-hearted fluff. Let me know what you think of the fic and I hope you keep reading. :D


	2. Chapter 2

"You coming to the town meeting?" Finn asked Rey one day after work. Her toolbox and his cleaning cart were already away and they were walking toward the main lobby together.

"Town meeting?" Rey asked.

"Yeah. It's a meeting…about town affairs…it's a thing we do."

"Very informative," Rey said, continuing past the lobby and toward Amilyn's office. Finn followed.

Amilyn sat at her desk and Kira laid on the floor, coloring in a coloring book. The crayon went out of the lines a few times, but there was some serious effort to keep the picture tidy. The only thing really out of place in it was that she had given Elsa purple hair.

Rey squatted down next to her daughter and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Very good job," she said. "Is that Amilyn?"

Kira nodded. She then stood and ran over to Amilyn who gracefully accepted the page. Amilyn applied some tape to it then hung it on the wall, displaying Kira's creation for all to see.

Between the job and the free babysitting Amilyn was a lifesaver. She was probably just taking pity on Rey because Rey was a poor, single mother, but Rey wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She would take all the pity she could get if it meant keeping food in their bellies and money in her pocket. Besides, she worked hard for Amilyn and hard work deserved rewards.

Finn leaned against the doorway and waved at Amilyn. "Don't you think Rey should come to the town meeting?" he said.

"Shouldn't the meeting be for long term residents or something?" Rey asked as she scooped Kira into her arms.

Amilyn looked up from her desk. "Nonsense, Rey. You're a member of the town now, aren't you? You should go. Let's all go. It'll be a good way for you to get to know more people and learn what's going on in town." She stood and put her hands on the small of Rey and Finn's backs, guiding them outside.

The town meeting was held in the local dance studio, which wasn't too far from the town square. Most things in town were around the square.

As they walked past Ben's Diner Rey snuck a peek inside. The lights were off. Good, the last thing she wanted was to see Ben again. He was such an infuriating jerk. What kind of man-child throws a plate across the room?

They arrived at the dance studio and entered. A speaker podium was set up to their left while folding chairs were arranged in rows to their right. Rey scanned the crowd hoping to find a familiar face. Pretty much the only people she knew in Chandrila were coworkers.

"There's Rose," Finn said. Rose was another maintenance worker at the inn. Unfortunately, there was only one seat available next to her, which Finn took. The shine in Rose's eyes when he sat down did not go unnoticed.

Amilyn kept walking, all the way until the back of the studio. Only one other person had ventured this far back, leaving three seats together for Rey, Kira and Amilyn. It wasn't until they were standing at the row's entrance that Rey realized who the man was: Ben. Crazy Ben who threw plates and then laughed at her when she got upset. Just her freaking luck.

Amilyn sat down next to him, leaving the remaining two for Rey and Kira. Rey hesitated, trying to come up with an excuse to walk away without turning it into a thing. If she walked away now, after following Amilyn all the way back here, Amilyn might question why. Better to pretend like nothing was wrong. She put Kira down and sat between her daughter and Amilyn.

Ben glanced over at Rey, then rolled his eyes. He leaned over to Amilyn and without even an attempt to whisper said, "You know, I sit all the way back here so no one will bother me."

"Oh hush, Ben" Amilyn said. She playfully smacked him in the shoulder and Ben's eyes softened, but only for a moment.

Had Rey overreacted the other day at the diner? Amilyn had no problem with this man; she even seemed to like him and he gave the semblance of tolerance toward her.

Rey rubbed her jaw. Why was she letting this jerk get to her? She glanced over at Kira, who was way too preoccupied with a doll to notice Ben, not that she would care. Thank God for small miracles because Kira was completely oblivious as to what transpired in the diner. All she seemed to remember was flying pancakes. She even asked for her pancakes to be delivered like that at breakfast the next morning. Still, it scared Rey a little to have such an out-of-control maniac so close. What if he flipped out again? She needed to move seats before that could happen.

The studio was filled now. No more empty seats. An older woman with gray hair stepped up to the podium. She banged her gavel. It was too late now. She should have just walked away when Amilyn first sat down.

"I, Mayor Organa of Chandrila, call this meeting of the town to order. Chairwoman D'Acy will you read last week's minutes."

A slightly younger woman, this one blonde, took the podium and reviewed the previous week's meeting. It included nonsense such as the problem with stray cats breaking the noise ordinance at night, a debate on proper grass height, and a vote on if the background scheme of the town's website should be changed, which had been struck down.

Rey rubbed her forehead, trying to massage away worry lines. She leaned over to her left. "Is this…are those minutes actually real?"

Amilyn cocked her head to the side and blinked. "Am I missing something?"

Ben turned his head, locking eyes with Rey. Her heart skipped a beat as a small smirk tugged on his lips. "Amilyn's the one who added the proposal for a statue in the town square, honoring the falling honeybee population."

Amilyn shrugged. "The dying bees are a town concern, are they not?"

Still smirking, Ben leaned back in his seat as the mayor stepped back up to the podium. There was no recognition in his eyes as he spoke to Rey. It was as if she was just another ordinary person. How could that be? Did he throw tantrums so often that his victims were just more faces in the crowd? She wouldn't put it past him, the way he had acted so blasé about it.

Rey tried to concentrate on the mayor's words, listening to the town issues, but she couldn't pull her thoughts away from Ben. Just what was his deal?

"Now, I know you're sick of me asking this," Mayor Organa said, "but I really need more volunteers for the Starlight Festival."

"Oh Rey, do you know about the Starlight Festival?" Amilyn asked.

Rey shook her head.

"It's the celebration of our town founding," Amilyn whispered. The Mayor continued to drone on about all the tasks they needed help with. "There were once two young lovers from quarreling families. One were patriots, supporting the revolution, and the other were loyalists, supporting England. Refusing to let the impending war keep them from each other they made a plan. One night they agreed to meet up and run away, but they both got lost on their way to the meeting point.

"Suddenly a shooting star lit up the sky, and they followed it until they were reunited in the town center. So, every year we celebrate their love story with a festival and fireworks display, hoping other young lovers will find their way back to each other too."

It all sounded a little too hokey for Rey. True love? Was there really such a thing? She supposed it must be nice to believe in that, but Rey had lost faith a long time ago. Even Kira's conception was nothing more than physical attraction and a desire for intimacy.

Still, she was trying to make a home here. What better way than to get involved?

"So, is there anyone interested?" the mayor asked.

Rey raised her hand. "I'll volunteer!"

Mayor Organa set her gaze upon Rey, looking her up and down. "You're new in town?" she asked.

Rey nodded. "Name's Rey. I work at the Resistance Inn. Maintenance. I'm a hard worker. Amilyn can vouch for me."

Amilyn nodded.

"Thank you, Rey. Now anyone else?" Mayor Organa's eyes scanned the crowd, locking eyes with a few people until they reluctantly raised their hands. "Come on people, this is a celebration of our town's founding. A celebration of love and new beginnings. What could be more exciting than that?"

"Falling into a woodchipper?" Ben mumbled.

Amilyn raised her hand. "Ben wants to volunteer!" Amilyn said.

Everyone in the studio turned around and stared at Ben. Even Rey leaned forward in her seat to get a better look at him as he squirmed in his seat and glared. Was he about to have another tantrum?

He turned back to Amilyn, sneering. "Is having your body torn to shreds a past time on your planet?"

Amilyn stared back at him with a blank expression. "I'm from Earth."

A vein popped in Ben's neck. He wouldn't hurt Amilyn, would he?

Amilyn looked around at the staring people. Slowly a smile grew on her face and she looked back at Ben. "Oh, you were making a joke. Falling into a woodchipper isn't fun. You were using sarcasm. And you think I am strange, as if I'm an alien. Funny." She turned back to the mayor. "Sorry, he was making a joke."

Everyone kept staring at Ben, though. A violent outburst was surely coming.

He took a deep breath and let it out. Then another. "Fine, I'll do it. Tell me what you need done and then leave me alone." He stood up and exited through the back of the studio.

The tension in Rey's spine released once those back doors swung closed. Nothing happened. There was no outburst or fight or anything. Ben acted…completely normal. Annoyed, but in control of his emotions nonetheless. Maybe her first impression of him was wrong. Maybe he wasn't some crazed psycho who flew off the handle at the slightest provocation. After all, she didn't know what happened at the diner before she arrived that set him off. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation.

That was a lot of maybes, though.

"Any more volunteers?" the mayor asked. "Anyone? No? Then let's move on to the last and final matter of the night: the request by one Luke Skywalker for a permit for protesting in the town square."

"You mean the town loner?" someone asked.

Rey could barely concentrate on the debate at hand. While everyone else discussed the crazy antics of this supposed town loner, Rey kept wondering about Ben. As much as she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt the idea of working side by side with him at the festival chilled her to the bone. There was still the possibility that her first impression was correct—that he was, in fact, deranged. Right now it was impossible to tell.

It was too late to get out of this, though, not if she wanted to look dependable and trustworthy to her new neighbors. She would just have to suck it up and get through the day.

"All in favor of granting the permit?" the mayor asked.

A few people raised their hands, including Amilyn, but most people kept theirs firmly in their laps.

"And all against?"

The rest put their hands up.

"The nays have it. Permit not granted." The mayor banged her gavel. "With that taken care of, I call this meeting of the town to a close." Another bang.

Rey flinched, unable to disassociate the sound of the gavel with the sound of a smashing plate. How was she ever going to make it through the Starlight Festival?

* * *

Set up for the Starlight Festival began in the morning. It was Rey's day off so once again she walked with Kira to the town square. There was no getting lost this time. She knew exactly where she was going. She was starting to feel like a real Chandrilan.

"Mayor Organa?" Rey said to the mayor when she arrived at the square. The mayor was standing on the sidewalk barking orders at some nearby people while the walkie-talkie in her hand went off every couple of seconds. "I volunteered the other night."

The mayor looked her over but her eyes got caught on Kira's precious face. She bent down and offered her hand to Kira. "And who is this little thing?"

"This is Kira," Rey said, grinning.

Kira backed up slightly and hid behind Rey's legs, peeking out between them. She wasn't normally shy, but she had been meeting a lot of new people lately. It was no wonder she was getting overwhelmed by it.

The mayor laughed. "I promise I don't bite, honey."

Kira looked up at her mom, and once Rey gave her a nod Kira came out from her hiding space. She wrapped her fingers around Organa's and giggled. "Hi, Miss Mayor."

The mayor's eyes lit up and Rey found herself wondering if she had children, or even grandchildren, of her own. They were probably very lucky. This woman had a way with children.

Mayor Organa stood back up and turned her attention back to Rey.

"You can call me Leia, by the way. It's a small town. We're on a first-name basis here. You're Rey, right?"

Rey smiled and nodded. Small town or not, the mayor remembering your name was a real honor.

"Maintenance, right?" Leia asked. "Good with tools? I need some help over at the stage." She pointed at a wooden structure with metal parts and wood lying about.

"You can count on me!" Rey said. She gave the woman a salute that she instantly regretted, but Leia laughed it off, adding a "Dismissed" afterward.

With Kira still holding her hand, Rey walked over to the unfinished stage. Kira was wearing a backpack filled with outing supplies, so Rey helped the toddler out of the straps and set up a play area next to the stage. There was a thin sheet stuffed inside that Rey laid down on the grass. While she did that Kira dumped out the rest of her backpack onto the grass and looked for the perfect treasure to play with.

"Can you sit here and play quietly like a big girl while I work?" Rey asked.

"Uh-huh," Kira said without even looking at her mother. She picked up a doll and soared it through the sky like an airplane. Rey rolled her eyes. A mother's love can only compete with toys for so long.

"Ah, dammit!" someone yelled. A pair of legs stuck out from underneath the partially built stage. The body scooted forward until the torso emerged.

Ben.

A shiver went down her spine. Rey glanced over at Kira, who was paying them no mind. Ben didn't seem to notice who they were either. He sucked on his fingertip. When he removed it from his mouth it dripped blood. "Dammit," he said again.

Whatever anger or annoyance Rey still held toward this man dissipated. Instead, she was reminded of last week when Kira tripped and scraped her knee on the sidewalk in front of the inn, except with less crying. Without thinking, Rey returned to the backpack and opened up the front pocket where she kept the emergency supplies. Ever a rambunctious child, Kira was constantly getting hurt so it was always good to have a full supply of Band-Aids.

Rey grabbed one, and an alcohol swab, and walked over to Ben. She knelt beside him and opened the swab. "Let me." She took his hand into hers and cleared off the blood. He didn't flinch like Kira always did. Next, she opened the Band-Aid and wrapped it around his finger. Once she was done his hand lingered in hers until she pulled away, blushing. "Sorry."

"Don't be." He inspected the Band-Aid. "Barbie?"

Rey blushed some more. "My daughter picked them out."

"Pretty." His tone was dry but unlike their fight a few days ago Rey found herself chuckling this time. "I guess I jammed my finger under a bolt. You're Rey, right?" Ben's gaze on her was intense. "You were sitting with Amilyn at the town meeting?"

She nodded. "I'm also the girl you threw a plate at."

He stared at her for a long moment before his eyes suddenly got wide. "Oh."

"Oh?"

"Yeah…oh…I forgot that was you."

"Do you go around throwing plates at a lot of people?" Rey asked.

"Well…"

"Well?!" Rey repeated back. She glared at him. "Your response to that should not be 'well'."

"I didn't throw it at you." He pointed his Barbie Band-Aid covered finger at her face.

"That's still not a very good excuse."

He smiled again, this time with a stupid, lopsided grin that she immediately wanted to smack off his stupid, smug face. This wasn't funny. Why was he treating it like a joke? "Look, I'm sorry. I had a bad day and it kind of just happened. Like I said, I wasn't aiming at you. Wrong place wrong time."

Pouting, Rey crossed her arms. "Yeah, and how often do you have these bad days?"

The smile fell right off his face. He looked away and down at his shoes. "Too often."

It took all of Rey's willpower to keep her hand at her side instead of reaching for him and giving him a comforting hand-squeeze. This was a stranger, she reminded herself. All his other reactions were utterly unpredictable so she could only imagine how he would react to perceived pity. Still, the mothering instinct inside her screamed out to help whenever she saw someone that looked that broken and defeated. Maybe he just needed a friend.

"I'm sorry," Rey said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He looked back up, his eyes hard now. "No." A whole new person had emerged from behind those eyes and he was no longer someone who was simply amused by her frustrations toward him. This was exactly the look you would expect from a psychopath. This was the man who threw plates across rooms and couldn't control his temper.

It only lasted for a moment, though, before his shoulders slumped and he broke eye contact once more. When he looked back the softness in his eyes had returned. "Look, there's still a lot of work left on the stage. Can we just get back to work?"

The rest of the afternoon Rey kept her guard up, waiting for the cracks in his facade to show again, but they never did. Ben was just as much of an enigma as before.

* * *

Set up took all morning and afternoon. Once the stage was built, Rey moved onto table and booth setup, while Ben volunteered to help with the fireworks launcher. Normally he would have ignored such a request, he already resented being here in the first place, but he needed to get away from Rey. He couldn't stand the way she looked at him, watching his every move like he was a monster. Maybe he regretted the first impression he gave her too. Why couldn't she have just been a simple tourist like he originally thought?

The field wasn't too far away from the town square, but Ben drove his truck anyway, wanting to get this over as quickly as possible. He was still annoyed Amilyn tricked him into volunteering in the first place. He hated town festivals, but the Starlight Festival was the worst. The story about the star-crossed lovers finding each other was nothing more than a fairytale.

He parked the truck and grabbed his toolbox before walking to the center of the field where a group of morons who couldn't read instructions were already gathered.

"Not like that. You're doing it wrong!" Poe Dameron was holding an instruction manual, which the wind was daring to pluck from his hands.

A woman was knelt down in front of the launcher, her face hidden by her long, brown hair. She turned around with a sneer. "Well if you know how to set it up then you can—oh." She had started yelling at Poe but stopped mid-sentence when her eyes locked onto Ben.

Ben broke eye contact first.

She stood up and handed a wrench to Poe. "You do it." She continued over to Ben.

Poe stayed exactly where he was, watching her and watching Ben. So did everyone else. There was never any privacy in this damn town.

"Jaina," Ben said. Her name on his tongue felt strange. How long had it been since they spoke to each other? She got deployed overseas almost a year ago, so it had to be longer than that.

She gave him a weak smile. "Hey, big brother."

His chest felt tight and he found it hard to breathe anything but shallow breaths. All the walls he had put up over the last couple years came crashing down. His little sister was standing in front of him and she actually looked glad to see him.

Ben looked away again. Looking at her was too hard. It only reminded him of everything he lost. He turned to Poe, someone whose face always guaranteed to piss him off. "I brought—" his voice cracked. He swallowed and tried again. "I brought my toolbox. Just…just bring it back to the diner when you're done." He turned around and went back to the truck. Volunteering at the festival was one thing but spending the day with Jaina and Poe was his breaking point.

Jaina followed. He should have predicted that. She never could leave well enough alone. "Go back to your boyfriend," Ben said. He reached the door of his truck and got in. Jaina reached the passenger door and also got in.

"Can I get a ride?" she asked.

"I hope you take orders better when it's your commanding officer."

She smiled. It was an elegant looking grin, so much unlike the cocky, lopsided one the men of the family usually favored. "You're not my commanding officer," she reminded him. "Wrong branch too, you jarhead."

Ben couldn't help but smirk. He had caused quite the upheaval when he joined the Marines rather than the Air Force like their father. Jaina, ever the daddy's girl, had followed in their dad's footsteps. All that seemed like a lifetime ago, though. Interservice rivalry felt so petty now.

"Aren't you gonna ask how long I've been back?" she asked.

"Poe mentioned you were coming home from deployment the other day," Ben said.

"Right…he told me you threw a plate at his head."

"I didn't—why does everyone think they were my target?"

"Why are you throwing plates around in the first place?"

Ben started the truck instead of answering. There wasn't an answer that would satisfy her anyway. While he drove Jaina reached over to the rearview mirror. Two golden dice, attached by a chain, hung from the mirror-like fuzzy dice. "I thought these were lost." She rolled one die between her thumb and fingers.

Ben pulled in front of the diner. The whole trip took less than five minutes.

"Did you steal these?" Jaina asked.

Ben looked away again, his cheeks turning flush. He never intended on stealing them. It kind of just happened. After their dad died Ben felt so lost. Holding the dice, rolling them between his fingers just like Jaina was doing right now, helped him find focus again. He still turned to them on the days he was upset. When his siblings asked if he knew where they were he lied. He couldn't risk losing them, not when they were one of the few things that kept him grounded on a bad day.

"I found them a while back." Ben left out any specifics and hoped Jaina wouldn't press the issue. "Can I have them back?" He reached over with his sweaty palms. A reunion with your estranged sister was the textbook definition of a bad day.

Jaina wrapped her fingers around them, and he feared she would try to keep them. Ben had never been particularly close with any of his siblings, but things took a turn for the worst after their dad died. Their mother said time would heal those wounds, but Ben doubted that. He blamed himself for everything that went wrong too.

Finally, she opened her hands and returned the dice to Ben. "You never did get your fair share of his stuff, did you?"

"I got his store." Ben rolled the dice between his fingers.

"Which you drained your life savings to buy off Mom."

"She gave me a fair price." He continued to roll the dice. Their mom had given him more than a fair price. Originally, she had offered to just sign it over to him, no money down, but Ben and his stupid pride couldn't accept that. He demanded she take his money, but it still wasn't much. Now, a few years later, he had nearly driven the business into the ground. It was just more proof of how much of a screw up he was, who didn't deserve any part of the family.

It wasn't a good time to worry about the store, though, not with Jaina watching. If she found out the business was struggling, if any of them did, then they'd intervene. They'd figure out a way to take it back and he'd lose the one thing he cared about—the one reason he was able to get out of bed each morning. It was pathetic but his only purpose in life now was running that damn diner.

He closed his eyes as he continued to roll the dice through his fingers, now mumbling a familiar phrase to himself. Tension through his body eased away.

"What are you saying?" Jaina asked.

Ben's eyes flew open. The tension was back. He glared at her. "You can leave now."

She crossed her arms. Why did every member of their family have to be so damn stubborn? Well, Ben could be stubborn too. He gave Jaina her damn ride and now he was going to get the Hell away from her.

Jaina grabbed his arm before he could make his escape. Her eyebrows were drawn together as if she was actually worried about him. Where was that concern back when his life first fell apart?

"Please. I want to be alone," he said. "I need to be alone."

She didn't let go. "Are you okay?"

"Since when does anyone care?"

Ben pulled his arm free and got out of the truck. He went inside the diner and hollered at the closest employee, Hux, to make sure the girl standing by his truck was not allowed inside, then went upstairs.

He continued to rub those dice. It was a very bad day, indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I would like to thank [DarkMage13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMage13/pseuds/DarkMage13) for betaing this chapter. You're amazing! And thank you to everyone who is reading and commenting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings in the endnotes. Btw, this chapter is a lot angstier than the previous. There's still some humor, because it wouldn't be a DottieSnark story without a couple of jokes, but yeah, we take a level in angst here.
> 
> And thank you to DarkMage13 for betaing this chapter.

Rey had grown up on the streets of London. It wasn't a very easy life, but it did harden Rey. Some nights she went without food, others without shelter. Sometimes she had neither. Her days were long and dull, usually spent waiting on the same street corner she had been abandoned on as a child, waiting for missing parents to return. Her only distraction was petty theft or dumpster diving. No one could remove rims off a brand-new Mercedes as quickly as she could.

Point was, a morning's work of setting up a stage and moving some tables wasn't a big deal to her, and the free lunch they gave the volunteers at the end was more than enough payment. Now she could stretch her budget ever so slightly longer.

Kneeling on the ground and moving heavy objects during high noon did work up a sweat, though. If she could smell her stink then she could only imagine how bad the odor was for others. Rey packed up Kira's things and picked Kira, who had worn herself out with playing all morning, up. Kira only stirred long enough to wrap her arms around Rey's neck as Rey walked away from the square.

The other volunteers were going home to shower and clean up for the festival. Rey didn't have a home, though. All she had was her car. She had it parked just on the outskirts of Chandrila, in a parking lot for some hiking trails. It held every one of her possessions, all of her clothes, and the few mementos she still had from London.

Setting Kira down in the backseat Rey put Kira's toys away and grabbed her own bag, stuffing it with clean clothes. Then she gathered Kira back into her arms, still sleeping, and went to the inn. When she first arrived in America, Rey often went to Ys or other rec centers to use the facilities, but since coming to Chandrila she had the inn. She was pretty sure she wasn't _supposed_ to use the inn like it was her own personal shelter, but what other choice did she have? It was the only place she could go in and out of without question.

Rey arrived at the inn, went behind the reception desk, and found which rooms were vacant from the reservations book. She grabbed a key for an empty room and quickly went upstairs before anyone noticed her. When she got to the vacant room she set Kira down on the bed, then went into the bathroom for a shower. The temperature was set low, its cold waters cooling down her body.

Once she was done she toweled off, dressed, and picked Kira back up. Kira was still fairly clean and didn't need a bath. With Kira in her arms, she exited the room.

"Rey," someone said.

Rey stopped in her tracks, caught in the act. Slowly she turned to face Amilyn. Busted!

Amilyn smiled as if nothing was wrong. "You're not working today, are you?"

Rey shook her head, trying to think of an excuse. Water dripped off her hair, slashing onto the carpet.

"Oh…" Amilyn said, and Rey prepared herself for a lecture—perhaps one that ended with a firing.

She really screwed up this time. Without this job, she had nothing, no source of income, no free meals during work, no babysitter. It had been the perfect job but she just had to get greedy and screw it up.

"No one's checked into this room?" Amilyn asked.

Rey shook her head again.

"I see…I'm sure you were fixing something in there yesterday and just forgot something?"

Rey's head snapped up. Amilyn was providing her with an excuse? Why? Why did Amilyn bother to cut her so much slack when she was such a pain to keep around? How wasn't this just a betrayal of Amilyn's trust? Instead of asking any of these questions Rey just slowly nodded her head.

"We'd all forget our heads if they weren't attached, wouldn't we?" Amilyn said. "Listen, Rey, I don't know the exact specifics of your circumstances. I've tried not to pry in hopes that you would tell me when you're ready. But I think if you need anything, food, clothes, a safe place to stay, I hope that you've learned to trust me enough to tell me."

Rey nodded and considered it. No one had ever been so forthright in their help before. Living on the streets was a dog eat dog world. There were people who would "help" but there was always a price. There was this one junkyard owner, Unkar Plutt, who would fence stolen or scavenged goods, but he never cut anyone a fair deal. When she was younger Rey was often forced to deal with him, selling pilfered goods for well under market value just so she could afford a day's meal.

"Thanks," was all Rey said. How she wished she could bury her head into Amilyn's shoulder and tell her all her woes, but it wasn't Amilyn's place. She had done enough. More than enough. Rey's living situation just had to be something she figured out on her own.

* * *

The Starlight Festival started at sunset. On her way back to the town square, Rey bumped into Finn and Rose. She didn't want to interrupt, especially since the two were making googly eyes at each other, but they beckoned her over.

"Are you going to the festival?" Rose asked. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail that showed off long, dangly earrings and she wore a colorful, summer dress. It was jarring compared to the maintenance jumpsuit they usually wore at work. Apparently, Rose had a secret girly side. She made Rey feel under-dressed in her t-shirt and jeans.

"I was part of the setup crew," Rey said. "Want to see if all that hard work was worth it. Plus, Kira's never seen fireworks before. Could be fun."

By the time they reached the square, the sun had set. With only the twinkle lights as a light source, the square looked even more majestic than before. If Rey was a more naive girl she might actually believe in the magic of the town's founding tale. She wasn't naive, though.

"Mommy! Mommy! Snow cones!" Kira cheered, pointing at a booth.

Rey frowned. There wasn't much money left from the first paycheck. She had frivolously spent most of it on new clothes and takeout. There was just enough left in the food budget to make it through till the next check. There was nothing to spare on this festival.

"You want a snow cone?" Finn asked. "What's your favorite flavor?"

"Blue!"

"Finn," Rey said, shaking her head. Kira was going to be disappointed enough as it was. He shouldn't get her hopes up.

Finn ignored her and picked Kira up, placing her on his shoulders. He flashed Rey a disarming smile. "My treat, okay?"

Above his head, Kira squealed in delight. How could Rey let her down now? "Okay," she finally agreed. "Just this once." This couldn't become a habit, she needed some semblance of being self-sufficient, but this didn't feel like charity. Finn was just a really sweet guy who loved making a little girl smile. Buying Kira a snow cone was as much a treat for him as it was for Kira. He promised to bring her right back and took off for the booth.

"Oh my God, Jaina!" Rose yelled. She sprinted away from Rey, down the main pathway of the square, and straight into a hug with another woman—heels be damned. Rey tried to catch up with Rose and this new woman, Jaina, but got caught off by some crazy lady dancing in the middle of the square. By the time she reached them the hug had ended and Rose and Jaina had switched to grasping each other's forearms while jumping up and down.

"I'm guessing you two are friends?" Rey asked.

"Yes, lifelong friends," Rose said. The girls settled down and stopped bouncing. "Jaina just got back from a deployment. She's in the Air Force. I haven't seen her in, oh my God, I don't even know how long." The smile on Rose's face fell and she playfully slapped Jaina in the arm. "Hey, wait a minute, why didn't you tell me you were coming back? We're supposed to throw you a welcome home party."

Jaina shook her head. "I didn't want all that pomp and circumstance. I got in very late last night. Poe and my mom picked me up. I saw my brothers today."

"Your brothers?" Rose asked. "All of your brothers?"

There was a long pause, and then Jaina nodded her head. She looked sad. Watching them talk, Rey was reminded of just how much of an outsider she still was. Rose and Jaina had this whole history. So did everyone else. For a moment, it made her nostalgic for London, for spending each day sitting on the same corner where she waited for her parents. She didn't have fun roots like a lifelong best friend, or a loving family, but she had that damn corner.

"I'm sorry, I don't think Rose introduced us," Jaina said, directing the conversation away from her family. "I'm Jaina." She offered her hand to Rey.

Rey shook it and gave Jaina her own name.

"Is that short for Rachel?"

Rey shook her head. "Just Rey—and with an E."

"She works at the inn with me and Finn," Rose explained.

A man with curly hair joined them, handing Jaina a cup before introducing himself to Rey as Poe. The name sounded familiar, as did his looks. Where had she seen him before? Then it hit her: he was the man from Ben's diner, the one who was arguing with Ben before he threw the plate across the room.

Jaina sniffed the cup and her facial expressions scrunched. "Have they just decided to switch to pure ethanol this year?" She took a sip from the cup, twisting her expression even further.

"Founder's Day Punch is _really_ strong," Rose explained.

"I'll make sure to avoid it," Rey said.

"No!" Rose said. "It's a rite of passage." She turned Rey around and pushed her in the direction of a booth with a punchbowl. "Bring me back a cup too."

Rolling her eyes Rey walked to the booth. She picked up two red solo cups and filled them with punch.

Someone's shadow casted over Rey. "Thought I was the only one double-fisting this poison."

Rey looked up, dropping both cups as she came face to face with Ben. The cups bounced on the table then tipped over and spilled on Ben, splashing his shirt with alcohol.

"Sorry!" Rey squealed. She grabbed some napkins and tried to wipe up his shirt but got distracted by how hard the abs underneath felt. Her fingers lingered longer than they should have before she pulled away and moved onto cleaning up the table.

Ben lifted up his shirt, just high enough to show off his v-lines, and inspected the area she had just splashed with booze. "I'm a little surprised it doesn't burn like acid." He put his shirt back down.

"I'm really sorry," Rey said again, blushing. "You just surprised me." She picked the cups back up and refilled them as Ben watched with a raised eyebrow.

"Have you tried this stuff yet?" he asked.

With a roll of her eyes, Rey took a large gulp from one of the cups. For a moment she was fine. Then the alcohol reached her throat. It burned with the intensity of fire. She coughed and gagged, but her saliva only scorched her throat more. While she convulsed she dropped the drinks again, this time on herself. Great, now she would smell of this toxic booze all night.

Ben had the nerve to smirk.

Tears streaked down her eyes. Why would people drink that willingly?

Ben took a sip of his own. He drank it without even a wince, leaving Rey flabbergasted. It was impossible. The drink was basically acid. There was no way Ben, or anyone, could drink it so casually.

"That's water, isn't it?" Rey snatched the cup from Ben's hand, and before he could protest, downed it. It burned even more this time. She spat it out, choking.

Ben laughed.

"You tricked me," she wheezed.

"You're the idiot who stole my drink. I never said it was water."

Rey crossed her arms, huffing.

Ben's smile shifted into a frown and he walked away without another word. God, what a jerk. Finally, Rey refilled one more cup, this time just for Rose. She would never drink another sip of that poison so long as she lived.

Just as she was about to return to her friends Ben reappeared, a water bottle in his hands. He handed it to her wordlessly. Rey opened the bottle and took a long sip, soothing her burning throat. He was still a jackass, but at least he had something resembling a heart buried underneath.

_Whoosh!_

A shooting light soared through the sky, grabbing Rey's attention. It produced a high-pitched squeal as it soared until it finally exploded into hundreds of tiny little sparks. The fireworks show had started.

_Kablam!_

How long had it been since her last fireworks display? Since before Kira was born, at least. She had skipped the last few Guy Fawkes Day celebrations, unsure if the noise would upset Kira. She was about to return to her daughter to make sure the fireworks weren't scaring her when she realized Kira wasn't the person to be concerned about. Ben was leaning over the punch table, his hair hanging over at just the right angle to cover his eyes but not his lips. He muttered something to himself, but the words couldn't be made out.

"Ben?" Rey asked, softly. It was possible he couldn't hear her over the explosions above.

She leaned over the table, close enough that she could smell the grease embedded in his shirt. It made her stomach growl. She still hadn't tried his so-called "best fries in town". Now wasn't the time to think about food, though.

"Ben!" she said a little louder.

He looked up, his hair shaken from his moist eyes. Was he crying?

"Are you okay?" Without thinking, she reached out for him.

He pulled away and those soft eyes turned into a glare. It wasn't the first time she had watched him transform from a vulnerable boy to a raged-induced monster in a matter of seconds. He had that transformation down to a science.

Ben downed the rest of his punch cups, poured two more, then stormed away. Rey couldn't peel her eyes off him as Ben stomped across the street and entered his diner. She was too far away to hear it, but she was sure he closed the front door with a slam.

What the Hell just happened? It wasn't so much that Ben was scaring _her_ , but that she was scared _for_ Ben. These constant and unpredictable mood swings had to have an explanation, right?

By the time Rey returned to Rose and the others Finn had returned with Kira, who was still atop his shoulders. The toddler squealed into the air, dripping melted snow cone into Finn's hair every couple of seconds, but he didn't complain. Kira clapped and giggled, absolutely mesmerized by the spectacle above. Thank God for small miracles. Rey didn't know if she could deal with Kira having a poor reaction after what she just experienced with Ben.

"Where are the drinks?" Rose shouted as explosions went off above their heads.

Rey frowned. After all that, she had forgotten them at the table. "Trust me, I'm saving your liver," Rey said.

The fireworks continued but Rey had a hard time watching it. Her eyes kept wandering over to the diner. The lights on the floor above were now on.

"Are you okay?" Jaina asked, pulling Rey from her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Should she say something? Ben's erratic behavior was cause for concern, right? Maybe someone who knew him better, someone who had lived in the town longer, would know what to do. "Hey, do you know Ben. From the diner?"

All eyes, sans Kira, looked at her like she had just declared she had a stockpile of severed heads in her refrigerator.

"He didn't do something to you, did he?" Jaina asked.

Well, he threw a plate at Rey, but that wasn't important to bring up right now, so Rey shook her head. "I'm just…concerned I guess. How many cups of that punch is too many? 'Cause I saw him drink a couple, then go for seconds. By my count, he's at least four, but I don't know how many he's had before. Plus he seemed…upset I guess." Rey didn't want to rat him out for crying. Some men were more sensitive about letting others see them cry.

Jaina bit her lip.

"Don't," Poe said.

"I just need to check on him."

"No, you don't. He's not your responsibility. Don't let him ruin our night."

Jaina shook her head and took off, heading straight for the diner. Rey couldn't peel her eyes away from Jaina as she pounded on the front door and then moved on to throwing something at his windows. Pebbles maybe. A fight between Rose and Poe pulled Rey's attention away before she could see anything else. When she looked back Jaina was gone.

"You don't have to be such a jerk about Ben," Rose said. "You know he's been through a lot."

"Everything he's been through he put himself through," Poe shot back.

"How can you say that?" Rose said. "You two used to be friends. How could you turn on him when he needed you most?"

"Ben likes to pretend he's a victim. He's not. He never gave a damn about Han before he died. And he can't stand to let anyone, even his dead father, have attention for five minutes, so he had to turn Han's death into being all about himself."

 _Han_. As in _Han's Hardware_. The second sign on Ben's diner. It was his father's sign. His _dead_ father's sign. Rey's heart ached. She never really knew what happened to her parents, but she still felt the loss each and every day. No wonder Ben was a wreck. Rey had been too for most of her life.

Finn stepped between Poe and Rose. "Hey, why don't we all just take a deep breath and drop this conversation?"

Both Poe and Rose glared at each other, then stormed away, leaving Rey, Finn, and Kira all alone.

"Great. Now they're going to expect me to go after them. I'm not going after them," Finn said, "because whoever I don't go after is going to get pissed and accuse me of picking sides."

"If you had to pick sides who would you pick?" Rey asked.

"I'm not choosing sides between my best friend and my…and Rose."

"But if you had to choose?"

Finn sighed. "All that stuff they were talking about, it happened before I moved to Chandrila. I didn't know Han, and I don't know what Ben was like before…but as far as I'm concerned Ben is an ass. Poe is probably right."

Rey frowned. She was still so completely unsure about how to feel about Ben. It had been so much easier when he had just been some psychopath who threw plates at people's heads. But now she knew there was more to him than that. If Finn had asked her the same question, she didn't think she could just chalk Ben's behavior up to him being an ass. But Finn wasn't her.

"Go to Rose."

Finn's eyebrows scrunched together.

"You can make a better argument to Poe that this wasn't about choosing sides if you actually kind of are on his side," Rey said. "You can't do the same for Rose. Go after Rose. Get the brownie points from her before you explain things to Poe."

Finn smiled and picked Kira up off his shoulders and handed her over to Rey. Kira didn't take her eyes off the sky for even a second.

"What did I ever do before you came into town?" Finn asked.

Rey shrugged. "Struggled to navigate simple social situations, I assume."

Finn stuck his tongue out at Rey before going after Rose. Smiling to herself Rey gave one last glance to the diner. There was no sign of Jaina.

* * *

Ben always hated the Starlight Festival. It was loud, the theme was too sappy, and crowds in general always put him on edge. It's one redeeming factor was the unguarded booze table. Said table was supposed to be run by Maz, but every year, just like clockwork, Maz would get too drunk on her own supply of Founder's Day Punch and find herself dancing in the middle of the town square roughly ten minutes before the fireworks started. Ben had a working theory that they even waited for Maz's dancing to begin before they would light the first rocket.

As a teenager, Ben frequently used this opportunity to sneak booze. Now as a so-called "grown-ass-adult" he was still using it as an opportunity to sneak booze, albeit now from people who were "concerned" about his drinking. He didn't have a drinking problem, he had a "this Goddamn town won't leave me alone" problem.

The alcohol had given Ben just enough social lubricant to approach Rey when she was at the punch table. Normally, he avoided people at public gatherings, especially strangers, but he and Rey had spent a good portion of the morning building the stage today. That didn't make them friends, but they had seemed to move past the incident at his diner, at least, and if she wasn't holding a grudge that probably meant she hated him less than most people in this town did.

She was easily flustered, clumsily dropping her cups of punch any time she was surprised. It was just adorable enough that Ben had lowered his guard around her and cracked a couple jokes.

When she took her first sip of Founder's Day Punch he struggled to stifle his laughter. When she took her second, convinced she was going to prove Ben had just been drinking water, he lost it. The poor thing tugged on his heartstrings though. Just as she had bandaged his hand earlier today, he went off looking for a remedy to soothe her throat, and only returned once he had water for her.

He should have just left then and there. No, he should have never even come to that damn festival.

_Whoosh!_

A shooting light soared through the sky, its high pitched squeal grabbing his attention and unlocking long-forgotten memories.

Up until his father's death a few years ago, and the years when he was away on active duty, Ben had never missed a Starlight Festival. His family always dragged him to town festivals, but the Starlight Festival was special. It's where his parents "fell in love", or so they said. Ben was pretty sure their whirlwind romance, and his birth nine months later—he did the math—had more to do with the aforementioned Founder's Day Punch, than any festival magic.

_Kablam!_

Fireworks exploded in a rain of fire above them and he remembered more.

There was the year they took the twins, Jacen and Jaina, to their first festival. They were just babies, so Ben couldn't have been older than four or five. The whole family was laid out on a blanket in the town square, their parents holding hands and Ben playing with his twin siblings as they crawled around. When the fireworks started both Jacen and Jaina cried. Their parents were beside themselves. This was _their_ festival. Ben had always loved the fireworks. How could the twins not? As their parents scrambled to find a way to comfort the twins, Ben simply reached out and pulled both of the twins into his lap. They buried their heads against his chest and the crying stopped.

_Zoom!_

There was the year Anakin, Ben's youngest brother, convinced each of their parents, and their Godmother Amilyn, and their uncle Luke, _and_ Ben, to buy him cotton candy. No one knew he had gotten five different sticks of cotton candy until he threw up. Ben told his parents he would take care of Anakin and took him across the street to their dad's hardwood store to clean him up in the bathroom.

_Bang!_

And there was the year after he came back from his first deployment. Ben didn't want to go to the festival but his mother begged him. That was back when he still couldn't say no to her. So he went, miserable, until his father and his Uncle Lando invited him into an impromptu poker game in the middle of the town square. He almost wound up leaving the festival with an empty wallet until Maz decided to join in, won the pot and split it with Ben because she took pity on him for not cheating. A few days later the three of them taught Ben how to count cards and stuff cards up his sleeves, and by the end of the month, Ben was running the underground poker tables at his base.

_Whizz!_

"Ben!" someone shouted at him.

Ben blinked and looked up to face Rey. A tear dripped down his face. Shit. He was crying in front of her. After the plate incident and the overall unhinged demeanor he knew he gave off she probably already thought he was crazy—not that he could argue with that assessment. But crying? She would think he was weak and pathetic. How could he explain this? He wasn't even sure if _he_ understood why he was crying.

"Are you okay?" Rey asked. She reached for him but he pulled away.

No! He wasn't weak. He wasn't going to let her, or anyone else in this Godforsaken town, see him fall apart. Not again. He had spent too long building his walls back up. Some new girl wasn't about to tear them back down. He down the rest of his punch, poured two more, and stormed off toward the diner. Fireworks above still rang out. Once inside the diner he locked the door behind him and went upstairs to his apartment.

His apartment was a converted office space. It wasn't very large, but since he owned the building it meant no rent, and he needed every cent he made to go back into the diner. A kitchenette was in front of the door, and a makeshift bedroom was to his left, though there was a distinct lack of walls separating the two areas. Between them was a living room of sorts, with a couch and television.

As he entered, he flicked on every light until he made his way over to his sound system. Putting a screamo mixtape into the CD player, he turned the music all the way up and hit play. The bass vibrated off the wall and through his skull, blocking out the explosions from outside, and even his own thoughts.

It was better when he couldn't think.

He retrieved his dad's old lucky dice from the end table—he had left them there after the confrontation with Jaina—and rubbed them through his fingers just like earlier today.

The front door of his apartment swung open. Jaina stood in its threshold.

Fuck. Could she tell that he was crying? Would the whole town, and his whole family, soon know how much of a child he was? How utterly broken he was?

"Get out of my apartment!" Ben screamed. He picked a salt shaker up off the table and chucked it at her. She easily dodged. Ben picked up the pepper, but Jaina reached him before he could throw it and knocked it out of his hand.

"Stop that!"

"Leave me alone! How did you even get in here?"

"I'm Han Solo's daughter. Of course I know how to pick a lock."

Ben groaned but he relented and walked over to his couch, turning off the music. Outside his window fireworks were still exploding. "What do you want?"

"There's no nefarious plan here. I just wanted to check on you. You looked upset at the fest."

"Rey told you I was crying?"

Jaina's brows wrinkled. "No. Just said you were upset…you were crying?"

Dammit. She hadn't known but Ben and his big mouth had spilled the beans on himself.

Jaina sat down on the coffee table across from him. She reached out and took his hand into hers. He was too tired to pull his hands away. Besides, it was nice to have a little physical contact after all this time. He wanted nothing more than to pull his baby sister into a hug and cry into her shoulder and let her make it all better.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Jaina said.

She couldn't make it all better, though. And he couldn't just talk to her. The wounds between them were too deep. There was no healing this broken family.

"There's nothing to talk about. I just got too strong a whiff of Maz's punch and it made my eyes tear up."

Jaina frowned some more. "How much of the punch did you drink tonight?"

Crap. The one other topic he didn't want to talk about.

"Will you go away? I didn't invite you up here and I didn't ask for a babysitter. We haven't spoken in over a year and all of a sudden, what? You want to be friends? You suddenly care about me?"

"I've always cared about you, Ben," Jaina said.

"Bullshit!" Whatever happened to Jaina overseas that suddenly made her act differently toward him didn't change their history. It didn't change what he was: the screw up who ruined their family. "Get out." The words felt like venom on his lips. His heart cried out for her to stay but his lips and brain wouldn't listen.

"No." She crossed her arms.

He stood up and grabbed Jaina, hoisting her up over his shoulder.

"Ben!" she screamed. She tried to squirm out of his grasp but he was bigger and stronger. Luckily for her, Ben intended no harm. He just simply marched her across the room and dropped her in the hallway, right outside his apartment door, then slammed the door on her face, locking it behind him this time. He shoved a chair in front of the door for good measure.

She banged on the door but there would be no getting back in. He turned his stereo back on. Ben finished the rest of his Founder's Day Punch, then raided his own liquor cabinet. A few hours ago, he had written the whole day off as a "bad day". That was all sunshine and rainbows compared to how he felt now. He kept drinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Referenced past character death, alcohol abuse, a character having an emotional breakdown, and past child neglect (NOT KIRA)
> 
> This chapter focuses a lot on Rey and Ben's implied backstory. It gets into the detail of the child neglect Rey suffered as a child. It also talks about Han's death, though not in detail, and Ben is implied to be suffering from an emotional breakdown and drinking too much alcohol. This chapter does not get into the seriousness of these issues, but that's because this chapter was for establishing these moments. Rest assured, I am not ignoring the seriousness of these issues. They will be revisited later on in the story.
> 
> Author note: Thank you all for being so patient for me to get this chapter up. I was way busier than I thought I would be, plus I was involved in an accident (more on that in a second). But it's a good thing I sat on this chapter for so long. This chapter really got the ball rolling on Ben and Rey's backstories, and it used to be so much angstier. Like, way too angst for a Gilmore Girls AU, and I had been freaking out about that this whole time. But then I finally got an idea on how to tone down the angst. Like, it's still angsty, but now it's more of a TV-14 angst and I'm a lot happier with it. Everything else has really come together since then.
> 
> Also: if you follow my other stories or follow me on Twitter (btw, I'm on Twitter, I'm DottieSnark and you should follow me for writing progress updates and my dumbass thoughts on Star Wars. I mostly post about Reylo but I'm an equal opportunity shitpost :p) you might know that I was badly injured about 2 weeks back.
> 
> I fractured 4 vertebrae, but am expected to make a full recovery. Like, I know a spinal fracture sounds back, but really, I'm going to be okay. I'm already doing so much better. I'm walking around now and mostly independent (I can't lift things right now). Honestly, it just feels like a really stiff back now. It's not much worse than the time I stupidly decided to carry my dog's kennel (which is large enough that I can fit in it) up the stairs. I am too stiff to crawl into his kennel for funny pictures, though. I just wanted to keep you guys updated because I don't want any of you to worry. I'm going to be perfectly okay.


	4. Chapter 4

Guilt ate Rey alive for the rest of the night. Sure, Jaina had gone after Ben, but had she actually been able to talk to him? Did he let her in the diner? And was she even the right person to send? For all Rey knew, Jaina could have just made things worse.

After the festival, Rey carried Kira, who was passed out from the excitement, back to the car. Kira slept soundly through the night. Rey tossed and turned—though that was pretty typical when sleeping in a car.

Thoughts of what could have gone wrong plagued Rey all night. What if Ben wasn't alright? What if after he went back to the diner his mental state took a turn for the worse and it was all Rey's fault for not checking on him? She should have gone after him. She shouldn't have left it up to a stranger like Jaina.

Sun streaked through the dirty windshield, stirring Rey awake. Every inch of her body ached, especially her neck and back. She really needed to find a place to stay. Just a room with a real bed would do wonders. She'd even share a twin with Kira if need be, at least for a little while. Anything was better than this car.

Thinking about a new home distracted Rey from her guilt, but only for a few moments. Soon her thoughts drifted back to Ben. Was he okay? She wouldn't be able to relax until she checked on him. After she picked up a still sleepy Kira in her arms, she walked back to the town square. It was still early, no businesses had opened yet, including Ben's, so Rey opted for taking laps around the square, glancing inside the diner every time she walked by it, waiting to see if Ben had arrived at work yet. If anyone questioned what she was doing she'd claim she was just doing morning calisthenics. Plausible deniability, and all that.

She passed the diner three more times, and it was still empty. Where could he be? The diner was set to open soon. She continued to walk around the square and told herself that if he still hadn't arrived by her next pass she was going to get help. Maybe Finn would know where to find him, or at least know someone else who knew how to find him. But on her next trip around the block, she noticed a large figure with a black hoodie slumped over Ben's counter, sitting on a stool. There were few men in Chandrila as large as Ben Solo and none but he had any reason to be in the diner this morning, so he had to be under that hood.

She debated going in, but a redheaded guy beat her to the front entrance. Instead, she kept walking in a straight line, right past the door, but she could overhear a part of their conversation.

"Bloody Hell, are you sleeping?" the man shouted. He had a British accent too. "We open in ten minutes!"

Now almost past the windows, Rey snuck one last look at Ben, just in time to see him flip the bird at the redhead. Rey giggled and kept walking, this time continuing toward the inn. Ben didn't look great, from what she could see his eyes were bloodshot and his face was pale, but he wasn't alone, and that was enough to ease her worries, at least for the time being. She would return in a few hours, during lunch, to double-check that he was okay, but his coworker would probably do a better job keeping his mental state in check than some random woman like Rey that he didn't really know.

The next few hours ticked by at a snail's pace. Just like the previous night, her thoughts kept drifting to Ben. Why was she even so concerned over this man? Was it really just that she was worried about his mental state? Or was it something more? They just kept running into each other again and again and each time he surprised her. Each time she saw a new side of him. After the initial terrible first impression he made, she witnessed a genuinely humorous side to him. Then some vulnerability. What would be next?

"I'm going into town for my break," Rey said as she stepped into Amilyn's office during lunch. "Can I keep Kira with you? I already got her some mac & cheese from the kitchen."

Kira ran past her mother's side and straight to the pile of abandoned toys from yesterday. Even if she wanted to bring Kira with her, there would be no getting her out of this office now. Amilyn agreed and Rey had the rest of the lunch hour for herself. She went straight for Ben's. Just like the last two times she came by, there were barely any customers.

Sitting down in the exact spot Ben was slumped over in this morning, Rey picked up a menu. Her stomach growled but her lack of funds was still an issue. It was a bad idea to go out to eat today, but she just had to see Ben. She would get something cheap, perhaps just coffee and fries.

"Where's the youngling?" Ben asked as he came out of the kitchen. His face was pale and there were bags under his eyes.

"Amilyn's watching her. Needed the afternoon to myself." Lies were always easier when you sprinkled in a little truth.

Ben stared at her, glaring at her like he was peering into her soul. "My diner is perfectly safe to bring a kid to. You're blowing that plate thing out of proportion. I specifically threw it where no one was standing. It's not my fault you decided to walk through the door at that moment."

Rey stared at him, her mind jumbled. What. The. Hell?! He was blaming her for the plate incident? Her, the woman who was minding her own business trying to patron a new business? A business that clearly needed the help, by the way. She hadn't been hiding Kira away from Ben, she had left her at the inn so she could give Ben her full attention today in case he wanted to talk. But if Ben really was this delusional and self-obsessed maybe it was a good thing she left her daughter back.

"Now this is my fault?" Rey asked. "You throw a temper tantrum and it's my fault because I dare to exist in a public space?"

"Yes!"

"That's insane! You know that sounds insane, right?"

Ben scoffed. "Not the first person to call me that."

"That's not as good a comeback as you think."

He leaned over the counter, hands gripping the edge so hard that his knuckles turned white. "What are you even doing here? Looking for a story about the town psychopath for the gossip mill?"

What _was_ she doing here? He clearly didn't want her help. Whatever spell he had over her to care so Goddamn much was finally broken. He could rot in Hell for all she cared. "With this attitude, it's no wonder that no one comes in. I hope you go bankrupt."

She got off the stool and stormed out of the diner without eating for the third time. She still hadn't gotten her damn fries.

* * *

Ben Solo was a jerk. This wasn't some recent epiphany he had just stumbled upon. He had realized it when he was much younger. When he was about ten his little brother Anakin, only five himself, had called him one after Ben had hacked up Anakin's favorite stuffed rabbit, Ikrit, with some scissors, and it kind of just clicked.

 _Huh_ , Ben had thought, _I am a jerk_.

When their mother had asked why he did it all he could do was shrug. How could he explain that he just wanted Anakin to hurt as much as he did? Mom and Dad loved Anakin so much—he was the baby after all—and no one loved him. They even loved the twins more than him. The five of them made a perfect nuclear family. Ben was just the mistake, the older, unplanned brother that everyone regretted having.

Ben got grounded and Anakin got a trip to the toy store.

The problem was that after his righteous indignation had worn off, regret seeped in. At ten that meant collecting all the scraps of Ewok and pilfering a sewing needle from his mother's room in order to fix the damn toy. He had later snuck into Anakin's bedroom, well past bedtime, and had put the toy in Anakin's arms as he slept. The patch job was messy, but judging by the giggles that had come from Anakin's room the next morning it was good enough.

So, the question now was how did he fix things with Rey? How did he fix blaming her for something that absolutely wasn't her fault when the poor girl just wanted some lunch? There was only one thing he could think of: make her the aforementioned lunch. He went to work at the grill hoping his meager offering would make up for what he had done.

All he really knew about Rey was that she worked at the Resistance Inn and had a daughter, so, with a bag of takeout in his hands, he went by the inn. Hopefully, she was working today. With a greasy brown paper bag, adorned with Ben's logo, he sauntered up to the front desk where Larma D'Acy, the inn's manager, was working. She was an old friend of his mother and therefore one of the many people in town that hated him. It was mutual.

"What are you doing here?" D'Acy asked with a sneer.

Ben placed the bag on the desk, right on top of a stack of some important-looking papers. "Delivery."

D'Acy's nose scrunched up. She thought she was so much better than him. "Since when does that greasy spoon deliver?"

"Will you just make sure it gets to that maintenance girl? Rey?"

"I'm not your delivery-girl. Last I checked she was fixing the light fixtures in the dining room." D'Acy quickly found a new location to preoccupied her time and left Ben alone to fend for himself.

He really just wanted to drop off the bag and leave, but now he would have to hunt this girl down and give her an actual verbal apology rather than just the written one he shoved inside the bag. He wasn't very good at verbal ones. It wasn't like Ben had a fear of speaking or one on one social interactions, it was just that his mouth usually got him into trouble rather than out of it. He had a hard time thinking before he spoke.

He turned down the corridor to the left of the lobby, remembering the summers of his youth when he worked part-time at the inn. Amilyn was another old friend of his mother's, but at least she and Ben were still on friendly terms. More than friendly terms. She was the only person from that old circle who still spoke to him. He was almost at the dining room when he heard sniffling and sobs coming from the office down the hall. Amilyn's office.

Ben stood there in the middle of the hall for a few moments, debating what to do. There was no worst shoulder to cry on than his, but he also couldn't just walk by and let the one Chandrila resident whoever gave a crap about him suffer in silence.

He went into her office. The door was slightly ajar and he knocked, pushing the door open a little more.

Amilyn sat behind her desk, her hand covering her face and her shoulders hunched. She looked up as he entered. "Ben?" It was a surprise to both of them that he was there.

"I heard crying," he said, as if that explained his presence in the inn in the first place.

Amilyn wiped her tears and forced a smile on her face. "Sit down." She pointed at the chair placed in front of her desk. Behind her, there were a bunch of papers hung up that looked like they were drawn on by a little kid.

"Allana's?" Ben asked, pointing at the papers. His niece's name on his lips felt funny. How old must she be now? Two? Three? His own flesh and blood and he had never met her. It broke his heart each and every day.

Amilyn looked back at them and shook her head. "Kira's. She's the daughter of one of my maintenance workers. Single mom, so I help them out when I can."

He wanted to turn the conversation back to Allana. Ask about her. But he wasn't sure Amilyn would tell him anything. There was a reason she was still friends with all the Solos and it was because she didn't take sides in family feuds. Jaina had been trying to make her peace with Ben lately, but his brothers—Jacen in particular, still wanted nothing to do with him. Amilyn might not agree, but she would respect Jacen's decision to keep Ben away from his family. Asking about his niece, and being rejected, would hurt too much. He let the conversation move on.

"Kira…that's Rey's daughter, right?" he asked.

"You two know each other?" she asked.

"Sort of." Ben raised the bag of takeout. "Apology-burger."

Amilyn shook her head at him. "What are we ever going to do with you?"

"I'm sure you'll all find some way to kick me when I'm down again," Ben muttered.

Amilyn stared at him for a long moment. Her eyes felt like they were burrowing into his soul. He hated it when she had this kind of gaze. "You okay, kiddo?" she finally asked.

"I'm not the one who was crying." He started to stand up. Amilyn looked fine now, anyway, and being in the inn gave him the creeps. There were too many memories to haunt him here.

Amilyn wiped the already dried tears from her cheeks again. "I just got off the phone with Harp," Amilyn said. Harp Allor was Amilyn's longtime girlfriend. Harp was as sweet as Amilyn was crazy. A sob escaped Amilyn's lips again and Ben sat back down, leaning forward. Was it serious? Was something wrong with Harp?

"Tooka passed away this morning."

Ben leaned back and let out a sigh of relief. Just her cat. Harp was fine.

Amilyn completely broke down, and Ben remembered who he was talking to. Tooka was not just a cat to Amilyn. She was her everything. Ben's brain tried to scramble for a response. How did a normal person react to news like this? Someone who wasn't as emotionally stunted as Ben?

"I'm…sorry?" He grimaced when his voice did an uptick at the end, like it was a question. He wasn't unsure if he was sorry, he really did feel bad for Amilyn, he was just unsure of how to express that. It was like he had become numb to this topic. He had already seen too much death for a lifetime and his brain just sort of short-circuited whenever it was mentioned.

Amilyn forced a smile and reached over the desk to take Ben's hand, squeezing it. It was sick. She was the one who had just lost her cat, yet he was the one who needed to be comforted. "You don't have to stay with me, Ben. I know this is a sensitive subject for you."

It was a nice offer, but Ben was smart enough to know she was only being nice. Of course, she would want him to stay. She needed a friend right now. But she was also right. Death was not something he easily handled. Wordlessly, he stood up and left to finish tracking down Rey.

* * *

"So, the flathead is the screwdriver that's flat. Do you know what flat means?" Rey stood on top of a chair, repairing a light fixture in the dining room while her daughter sat on the floor, playing with Rey's toolbox as if it was a toy chest.

"Squished down!" Kira said. She clapped her hands then pressed them together as if she was squeezing something between them.

"Very good." Rey went back to work.

"Barbie band-aid man!" Kira said.

Rey looked back down to see Ben entering the dining room. She had to force back a groan. After the disaster that was lunch, Ben was the last person she wanted to see. She quickly screwed the last light back in and step down off the chair, standing in front of Kira with crossed arms. "What do you want?"

"Well to start, probably a new nickname from your daughter." Ben lifted up a greasy brown bag with his diner's logo on it. "But mostly I'm just here with a peace offering."

She hesitated before taking the bag and opened it. Right at the top sat a note. Grease had already seeped into the paper, smearing the ink. What once was a long, beautifully written note written in intricate cursive was now unreadable. She handed it to Ben. "I can't read this."

He frowned. "The gist of it is I'm a jerk. Sorry."

As far as apologies went it was pretty weak, but the free food helped. Rey went back to rifling through the bag, her hand passing by a couple wrapped sandwiches, one for her and one for Kira, perhaps, until she reached the bottom of the bag. Right when she was about to pull her hand out her fingers touched something warm that was also long and crispy. Fries. Ben's Goddamn famous fries! She pulled one out and just then nearly plopped it into her mouth, but at the last second stopped herself. She looked back at Ben. "How do I know this isn't poisoned?"

With a roll of his eyes, one that was clearly done for dramatic effect, Ben grabbed the fry out of her hand and ate it. "Happy?"

"No. You're still an ass." She grabbed the bag and plopped a fry into her mouth. "Oh my God!"

"Bad?" Ben asked.

"No! Amazing!" The fries had the perfect salt to potato ratio. She bit into another. And then another. It was hard to resist the temptation of stuffing them all into her mouth at once. "Oh my God, these really are the best chips in town. The best chips anywhere."

Ben smirked.

"What's so funny?" Rey asked, mouth full of fries.

"Hux—he's my fry cook, and British too, the redhead who works at the diner—he says that those fries aren't thick enough to be considered chips and any proper Brit would know that…you are British, right?"

"Well, you can tell that pompous ass that he can sod off."

"Ass, not arse?" Ben asked.

"Well I'm not 100, so ass."

"Ass!" Kira repeated, clapping her hands.

Rey grimaced. "Bullocks."

"Bull…licks?"

"No! No, no, no, Kira. Don't say that." Rey's face felt flushed as her heartbeat quickened. So stupid! She knew better than to swear in front of Kira. Why couldn't she just watch her mouth? She put the fries down and knelt down next to Kira, waving her pointer finger at the little girl. "Don't say that. Please don't say that anymore."

"Bull-licks!"

Ben covered his face but it did little to stifle his laughter.

"Stop laughing!" Rey yelled. She tried really hard to keep her eyebrows pinched into a glare but a smile was tugging at her lips.

"Sod off!" Kira screeched.

Giggles escaped from Rey's own lips as Rey fell backward on her butt. She was awful. What kind of mother sees her daughter so thoroughly misbehaving and then laughs? A bad one, that's who. But come on! It was a swearing toddler.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face until her giggle-fit ended. As she tried to stifle the laughter her shoulders trembled, then her whole body. Why couldn't she stop laughing?

Ben knelt down next to her. He touched her shoulder and it sent a tingle down her spine. She looked up, again wanting so badly to glare but failing as a smile broke through.

"I wasn't sure if you were laughing or crying," he said. His own laughter had ended and he had achieved that serious look she had so desperately wanted for her own face. "I'm glad you're not crying. I'm not really good at the comfort thing."

"So, you're not about to tell me I'm an awful mother?"

"Why would I say that?"

"For swearing in front of my daughter? For laughing instead of disciplining her?" Damn her. She was _still_ giggling between the words.

Ben shook his head. "You're not a bad mother. I've seen you around town with her. I can see how much you love her. Trust me, I know bad moms. I was one of the kids that was practically raised by their nanny. It's nice how much time you spend with her. I wish…I wish my parents had ever given a damn about me like you do with her."

Rey wiped away some tears from her cheeks. Maybe Ben was right to be concerned. She honestly wasn't sure if the tears were from laughing too hard or if she had actually started crying at some point. She reached over and grabbed Ben's hand, squeezing it. "Thanks."

"You know, I'm not _evil_ ," Ben said after a moment of silence passed between them. "I'm not some deranged psychopath."

"I never said—"

"It's how everyone in this town treats me. If you're sticking around here…well, I just wanted to set the record straight. Don't listen to town gossip."

"I won't," Rey promised. Everyone had been really vague when it came to Ben, anyway. The only person who had actually called him a psychopath was him himself.

Ben glanced over at Kira who was rifling through the takeout bag and doing her best impression of how Rey eats as she stuffed fry after fry into her mouth.

"I have a niece," Ben said. "She's about your daughter's age…I think." He shrugged. "Never met her. My brother and I don't get along. When you came to the diner alone I thought…I don't know. Just brought up bad memories."

"I got Amilyn to babysit her because I wanted to come to lunch alone. I was…concerned about you after last night—not because I thought you were deranged or anything but because you seemed really…"

"Unhinged?"

"Sad. I know you said you don't want to talk about it but my offer still stands if you change your mind.

Ben nodded, but instead of spilling his guts to her then and there he stood up. She hadn't really been expecting him to want to talk anyway. "Thanks…but this has already been too much emotional vulnerability for one day. Sorry I was such an ass—dic—meanie head? I'm trying to come up with a child-appropriate word here. Anyway, enjoy the lunch." He hurried out of the room.

She stared at the door he exited through for a couple of minutes as she stuffed the remaining fries into her mouth. Once again her thoughts were completely occupied by Ben Solo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n: Thank you again to DarkMage 13 for betaing this chapter.
> 
> And thank you to everyone who has stuck with me during this slow period of uploading. I'm doing so much better than I was even a few weeks ago, and though I'm still dealing with some pain I'm so much better. Had my follow up with the surgeon (never needed surgery, but he's a spinal expert so he was following my case) and he said my fracture is pretty much completely healed with no complications, so it's just muscle pain I'm dealing with now. I'm going to physical therapy twice a week now. Thank you to everyone who sent me kind messages during this ordeal. 3


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